title: Esophageal schwannoma: a case report.
abstract: Most tumorous lesions of the esophagus are esophageal cancers. Benign primary tumors of the esophagus are uncommon, and account for approximately 2% of all esophageal tumors. More than 80% of benign esophageal tumors are leiomyomas, with schwannomas being rare. A 55-year-old woman visited our internal medicine department with complaints of palpitations and discomfort during swallowing. A chest computed tomography scan showed a lobulated tumor (75 × 57 × 80 mm) in the upper to middle mediastinum, with homogenous inner opacity, compressing the esophagus. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a smooth-surfaced elevated lesion covered with normal mucosa, and a schwannoma was diagnosed based on the biopsy result. The tumor was large. It was thus considered to be difficult to repair the esophagus by direct anastomosis after tumor resection. Therefore, subtotal esophagectomy and esophagogastrostomy in the right thorax were performed. Histopathological examination revealed spindle-shaped cells in a fasciculated and disarrayed architecture and nuclei in a palisading pattern. Immunohistochemical studies revealed S100 protein positivity and the absence of staining for α smooth muscle actin (αSMA), CD34 and CD117, thereby establishing the diagnosis of benign schwannoma. Her postoperative course was uneventful and there has been no evidence of recurrence to date.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Asahikawa Medical University, Midorigaoka-Higashi 2-1-1-1, Asahikawa, Hokkaido 078-8510, Japan. k1111@asahikawa-med.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kitada
authors.forename: Yoshinari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oikawa
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miyokawa
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed